Changing The World: One Graphene Breakthrough At A Time

Researchers in China and the UK are now working together to bring about a new graphene technology that will be able to detect all 3 major strains of hepatitis simultaneously. It will be able to provide an on-the-spot diagnosis, which will be a lot more efficient than the week or so wait that people on average have to wait today to get their diagnosis results.

If they are successful, this will be the first technology to be able to detect all 3 strains right there on the spot, testing for them simultaneously. This could be a tremendous breakthrough for hepatitis diagnosis around the world.

There are over 1 million deaths every year as a result of hepatitis, according to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The graphene can be used to create graphene sensors that can detect antibodies that are associated with certain strains of hepatitis. They imagine a device that will be able to be used with a sample of the patient's saliva and it will then provide a quick result. This device will be able to be used by those who aren't specifically medically trained on how to use it. Whereas when it comes to the blood test, those need to be conducted by trained medical personnel.

When it comes to the new graphene sensors and their ability to detect hepatitis A, B, and C, they are allegedly looking to create a product that will be just as efficient and simple as a common pregnancy test or blood-glucose meter.

Graphene is proving to be useful in a variety of settings and has already made its way into a number of different markets. Graphene is going to have a big impact on the world around us, by contributing to tremendous technological advancement in many areas. Bike helmets, batteries, clothing, phone chargers, OLED displays, filtering/cleaning drinking water, and plenty more.

This material is said to conduct electricity better than silver, conduct heat more efficiently than diamonds, and it's 200x stronger than steel.

Researchers in China also say that they've recently been the first ones to be successful at producing graphene from corn. This method is likely going to be a much cheaper graphene production method and therefore it will help to expand the supply of the material.

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing it. Have you heard anything about graphene for use in batteries? If I recall correctly, I read about super batteries based on graphene that were supposed to be on the market already, but I haven't seen or heard anything since.

Graphene is really cool, and our mastery of its unique electrical properties at the nanoscale will be crucial to further developments in sensing.
The real star of this tech is the antibodies. There are plenty of other ways to do sensing without using graphene - sure they may not be quite as fast or convenient but they are certainly widely used. All of these rely on the specificity of the antibody. Immunoassays are a very reliable way of doing sensing. Different novel binding domains like scFvs will allow for these nano-lock and keys to be used in many applications. - graphene sensors are just one.

Signed,
A nanoscience student who is tired of the graphene buzz. (but mom, it gets the clicks and grant money)